LANCASHIRE Police Authority has welcomed new crime figures which show the county is becoming an even safer place to live.

Between April and January, the force achieved sweeping performance improvements, with All Crime continuing to plummet by -3.8% and detections remaining among the highest in the country.
 
The news comes as the Home Secretary approved the extension of Chief Constable Steve Finnigan’s contract for a further three years, ensuring the Constabulary maintains continuity and solid direction in the challenging financial times ahead.

Performance figures presented to the police authority by Mr Finnigan yesterday (Wednesday, February 9) show the force improved in every category of crime between April and January.
 
Vehicle Crime saw the largest reduction at -7.4%, followed by Serious Acquisitive Crime at -5.1%, Assault with Less Serious Injury at -4.6%, All Robbery at -2.4%, Burglary Dwelling at 0.9% and All Violent Crime at -0.5%.
 
In addition, indicators which measure confidence and satisfaction levels among Lancashire’s residents were also up in the 12 months to December 2010 compared to the same period the previous year.

Cllr Malcolm Doherty, Chairman of Lancashire Police Authority, said: "These figures show once again that people living in Lancashire have a police force they can truly be proud of. When you are already performing at the top of your game it becomes far more difficult to keep on improving yet the Constabulary continues to push for innovation and excellence, exceeding all expectations.
 
"The next four years will bring considerable challenges financially and we must be realistic in our expectations for service progression while faced with fewer resources. However, the shortfalls in funding have not caught us off guard and we are thoroughly prepared to approach the coming years with the same vigour for success and quality as previous years.”

Commenting on the extension of Chief Constable Steve Finnigan’s contract, Cllr Doherty said: "The Authority asked the Home Secretary to extend Mr Finnigan’s contract because we felt that a new Police and Crime Commissioner and new Chief Constable at the same time could lead to potential problems in our excellent performance.  We are pleased that the Home Secretary agrees with us and has approved the extension of Mr Finnigan’s contract.  We believe this will bring stability to the force in a period of upheaval.

“Residents in Lancashire can be assured the Authority and the Constabulary have their best interests in mind and remain committed to protecting vulnerable people while also maintaining the quality of service they have come to expect."
The figures show the Constabulary continues to exceed targets for answering 999 calls within 10 seconds, achieving 92.9% against a target of 90%. The average time calls were answered was 4.4 seconds.

Meanwhile, the percentage of 999 calls answered within 40 seconds was 91.4% against a target of 90%.